Review: Primetime

Official synopsis: In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) sets out to make television history.

To Catch a Predator was one of those shows everyone knew about, even if you've never watched an episode. That's the camp I fell into. I've seen episodes of the show here and there, but I was never a regular watcher.

Primetime, much like the name suggests follows the point in Chris Hansen's career where he and producer Andie (Merritt Wever) get the opportunity from the Network to take their show to the next level. It's going to get a Primetime spot, right up against Lost. Now the stakes need to be higher, they need to find more "important" people to trap. While this is happening, a new Decoy is being hired, played by a young actor Dan (Skyler Gisondo) who doesn't quite know what he's getting into with this job. 

Primetime is deliberately shot in a grainy, over-saturated fashion. It made me feel like I was watching a VHS tape. It fits the tone without feeling cheap. The filmmakers clearly put a lot of thought into how they were going to shoot and edit this, and I wish they had that same energy for the writing. 

Pattinson, Wever, and Gisondo are all giving excellent performances, but Dan's story is the only one that feels like it has a natural conclusion. I think Pattison paints a very good picture of Hansen. He has his smarminess down perfectly, but both Chris and Andie have side stories that I feel like we should've been able to see the fallout from. The 3rd act of a the film revolves around a big sting that goes horribly wrong, but the film doesn't want to explore what happens after that. I think even a few extra minutes, or some text on the screen would've sufficed. It feels incomplete. I think they could've done this and it still would've worked with what the final scene actually is.

Overall, I was entertained. The actors are worth seeing alone, but the screenplay could've been stronger. 

Grade: B-